The Arizona Attorney General's Office is investigating a complaint that Gilbert Public Schools' board members violated the state's Open Meeting Law.

The complaint alleges that board members discussed board business outside of a public meeting. The Open Meeting Law stipulates that all discussions and actions of a board majority must take place in a public meeting or executive session.

Suzy Horvath, who served on the school board from 2001 to 2004, filed the complaint in March.

The former board member included e-mails and screen shots of a text-message conversation between board members that she alleges shows the "governing board in Gilbert ... has broken the law several times," according to the March 11 e-mail she sent to the Attorney General's Office.

The state agency investigates claims of Open Meeting Law violations.

Most violations are resolved with training and a monitoring period to ensure public bodies adhere to the law, but in serious cases, penalties may include a $500 fine for each incident or a public official's removal from office.

The messages involve a conversation between board President Staci Burk and board member Lily Tram prior to a hastily called March 11 special board meeting in which the panel approved a letter asking Gilbert police to investigate claims of public-records destruction and approved Interim Superintendent's Jim Rice's contract.

In the message, Burk writes that "I have confirmation with a board majority that the agenda is acceptable without discussing substance." Later in the conversation, Burk writes, "Again the majority would like the item to remain for discussion at the meeting tomorrow."

Assistant Attorney General Chris Munns, in an April 8 letter, asked Burk to provide a written response to allegations that she "contacted various members of the council to set up a meeting on March 11, 2014, and that 'she has already heard from the majority of the board that these are actionable items.' "

Burk told The Republic that, "I had obtained advice from legal counsel that it was acceptable to call each board member to set up the meeting to hire our (interim) superintendent as long as I did not discuss substance."

Burk said she believed the Attorney General's Office would not take action on the allegation.

District spokeswoman Carole Bartholomeaux told The Republic that she was unaware of the investigation. "Even if we had been aware, we would not have been able to comment on an on-going investigation."

School board members Daryl Colvin, Julie Smith Jill Humpherys and Tram each told The Republic that they were unaware of the complaint.

Colvin said he is careful not to talk to other board members about board business outside of meetings. He said Horvath made the claim because "she certainly has an ax to grind."

"Her motive is to try to stir up trouble to make the members of the board she disagrees with look bad," Colvin said.

Horvath, who is a GPS alumna and had six children attend the district, said she filed the complaint after seeing screen shots of the text messages between Tram and Burk posted on Facebook.

"I'm not doing it to be confrontational," Horvath said. "It's my duty to report it."

Horvath said she just wants to "get the truth out there."

"In my opinion the violation happened. It's a question of how many times and how often," Horvath said.

Elaine Morrison, who served on the GPS board 14 years before retiring in 2009, helped Horvath compile e-mails for the complaint.

Morrison said she hoped an investigation by the attorney general would lead result in Burk, Colvin and Smith stepping down from the board.